I understand there will be alot of answers that involve the moral reasons why polygamy is illegal, but our laws are supossed to be based on "moral" reasons.... just criminal ones. (Kind of like same sex marriages)
So, answer me this, why on earth is polygamy illegal? Who are we to mandate that a man in Utah can't have 2 wives?
2007-07-31 02:15:51 · 10 answers · asked by Katie C 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Two reasons.
The first is that it was against the rules of the dominant religion (mainstream Christianity), so that religion got politicians to outlaw it. The justification was that it allowed men to exploit women -- but so has ever other patriarchal society in history.
The second reason is that property, tax and divorce laws become much more complex with more than two people involved. Politicians didn't want to have to work out the changes to all those laws, so they just outlawed the practice.
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EDIT: That second reason is also why there is no slippery slope on the same-sex marriage issue. Same-sex marriage would follow the exact same property, tax and divorce rules as opposite-sex marriage -- gender is not an issue for anything but the license itself, since all of the laws are already gender neutral and structured for two adults.
But changing the laws from two people per marriage to three or more per marriage (or marriage with non-adults or non-humans) would require a massive rewrite of laws -- not just changing the forms.
2007-07-31 02:22:04 · answer #1 · answered by coragryph 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
It's illegal because the federal government undertook a very active campaign to stamp it out in the 1800s.
I find that many of the same people who use expansive language about "letting people be with whomever they love" when it comes to same-sex marriage revert to very legalistic arguments and judgmental pronouncements when it comes to polygamy.
I have yet to see a convincing distinction between the two. Once all legal distinctions between men and women are eliminated - something no biologist could explain! - merely rewriting laws to accommodate more than one spouse would be relatively simple in comparison. Dividing by three or four is about as simple as dividing by two - and we all have calculators these days. And maybe rewriting the laws of the South to get rid of segregation was a lot of work too. But that wasn't a reason not to do it.
And again, the arguments we hear about same-sex marriage are not legalistic as much as appeals to "fairness, equality, etc." So, what about bisexuals? What if that's genetic too? Or what if it is found that having multiple partners is genetic, and to top it off for the purposes of argument more prevalent in one gender than the other? That's when the fun really starts!
Or what about adult incest? Those laws would be easy to change - just remove the ban on it. And we keep being told that marriage is unrelated to procreation. Is that next too? I hope not!
I think a focus on marriage as state recognition, solemnization and support of a union likely to produce children is the purpose to be kept in mind.
2007-07-31 02:26:34 · answer #2 · answered by American citizen and taxpayer 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's not that we think we can mandate what some guy in Utah does -- if you watch Dateline, you know, like I do, that there are plenty of men in Utah with more than one wife, despite what the law says.
From what I know about polygamy (and I'm no expert), it seems to me that the worst part about it is girls who are underage being forced into multiple marriages so they can become little baby factories in the Arizona and Utah desert. That kinda creeps people out.
But practically speaking, if it were to become legal, things would have to change. The practice in itself is sexist, because men can have more than one wife, but women can only have one husband -- and if it were to be made legal in the United States, it would also have to be Constitutionally sound, i.e., not discriminate against women. Maybe if women could have more than one husband, the idea would be more popular.
2007-07-31 06:03:09 · answer #3 · answered by Hillary 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I agree with coragryph. It is mainly because the largest practicing religion in the US is Christianity, and it is against their principles, so it was outlawed. Also, the tax laws would have to get 10 times more complicated if a man had two or more wives. So the government tries to keep it simple (like that's working for them) and outlaw it.
2007-07-31 02:25:05 · answer #4 · answered by coopermom2006 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Because no man should have to suffer more than one wife at a time.
2007-07-31 03:51:54 · answer #5 · answered by All The Answers 2 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Pehaps a better question would be why would any man in his right mind want to be married to two women, I hate being married to one.
2007-07-31 02:24:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 1⤋
Laws are based on morals. However if we allow same sex marriage, I'm not sure what the justification is for not allowing polygamy.
Personally I'm opposed to both.
2007-07-31 02:19:31 · answer #7 · answered by osborne_pkg 5 · 7⤊ 5⤋
It's illegal because uptight old Xtian men can't get in on the fun.
2007-07-31 02:23:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 7⤋
HI, Because that is how thing are done in life.
2007-07-31 14:17:12 · answer #9 · answered by Yvonne M 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Because things like adultery are illegal (you can be taken to court and divorced for it) and that's basically what it is... Practicing adultery.
2007-07-31 02:18:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 7⤋